The Dark Maze
by DaviM
Summary: When most of the Smashers are sucked into the mysterious Dark Maze, the few remaining must follow after them in hopes of saving them. Meanwhile, Ike is in gravely injured, so Crazy Hand must venture into the Fire Emblem universe to save him. Who is the dark power behind it all? Can he be stopped?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, anyone who might be reading this! This is my first story on Fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy! Also, the story is rated T just to be safe.**

**Edit: My sister, .1379, told me I forgot this, so here goes: **

**Disclaimer: DaviM does not own Super Smash Brothers or any other related products or franchises. Those are the exclusive property of Nintendo. **

"The winner of the tournament is… Meta Knight!" At the announcer's words, everyone broke out in wild applause. The rest of the smashers congratulated Meta Knight, albeit with some jealousy. He tended to win these little tournaments a lot, probably due to his ability to fly. It annoyed some people, but everyone, even Gannondorf, had won _some_ tournaments, so it didn't really matter. Anyways, they had come to the Smash Mansion to have fun, and hadn't been disappointed. Everyone was asleep by ten o' clock because these tournaments were incredibly tiring. When they woke up, however, sleep would be the least of their concerns.

The next morning, Ike got up around 5:00. He always did- when you're a mercenary, you have to rise early, and old habits die hard. He yawned stretched, and then stood up from his bead and walked toward the door. He usually hit the gym for an hour or two before breakfast was put out by the dedicated cafeteria workers. He quickly changed into a clean t-shirt and sweatpants and walked out the door. However, to his shock, the long hallway that contained the smasher bedrooms ended in a black and purple mass of dark, swirling nothingness. Ike's first instinct was to get as far away from it as possible, but then he began to feel an inexplicable urge to approach it. The second feeling won out, and he began to walk towards it. In the silent hallway, his footsteps seemed to echo. As he approached the dark matter, a mysterious wind began to blow in his face out of the darkness. The wind grew in force gradually until Ike was picked up off his feet and hurled away from it. He slammed into the wall with a crash and then crumpled to the ground in a heap, unconscious. The noise was loud enough to wake the other Smashers, who came out of their bedrooms to find out what could have woken them at this ungodly hour. When they looked over where Ike was, however, they seemed to not see him. Instead, just like Ike had, they began to approach the darkness.

Fox, Falco, Zelda, Meta Knight, Luigi, Bowser, and Lucario heard the sound, but, for some strange reason, the mysterious attraction to the dark, pulsating orb at the end of the hallway had not yet taken hold of them. They rolled over in their beds and went back to sleep. However, there would be no such luck for the approaching smashers. As they got closer to the wall of darkness, its power over them only seemed to grow, until at last they got to close and were sucked into it. As the last one was sucked into it, the dark, shifting mass disappeared.

Hours later, the eight remaining Smashers were all up, with the exception of Ike, and they were all greatly concerned. The staff was there, yes, but no one else was. When they found Ike, they brought him to his room and did their best to revive him, but all their efforts failed. After a while, Meta Knight turned to Zelda and asked,

"Can you help him?" Zelda shook her head sadly.

"Unfortunately, no," she sighed. "Only magic from the Fire Emblem world can help him."

"Zelda's right," said a voice at the doorway. Everyone turned toward the source of the voice. It was a giant, massive, floating right hand: Master Hand, the tournament officiator. He continued "Ike was too close to the portal. Its effect on him hasn't yet worn off, and won't for a long while. He is in no danger, but I am afraid that your friends are.

Bowser snorted. "Two questions. Number 1: What portal? Number 2: Why should we care if they're in danger?"

If Master Hand had had eyes, he would've rolled them. Bowser always persisted in being an annoyance. Unlike Gannondorf, he was almost never openly hostile to the heroes, but he derived great pleasure from exasperating them. "In answer to your first question," he said, adopting a patronizing tone, "This morning, around 4:30 A.M., a dark orb of great power appeared in the hallway of residence. Ike, as usual, was the first person up. He was inexplicably drawn to the portal, but somehow, a wind blew from it, forcing him away, knocking him out, and saving him from the fate of your friends. You were also lucky; somehow, the draw toward the portal hadn't yet come upon you, so you didn't get up and go into it. In answer to your next question, Bowser, and I know this will sound cliché, but if this portal came from who I think it did, then you won't be able to rule the world."

Despite the seriousness of their situation, Luigi almost laughed. "That _was _incredibly cliché."

Bowser rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'm in."

It was then that Lucario spoke up, speaking, as usual, with his mind rather than his mouth. _"Who, then, is this mysterious and powerful foe you speak of?"_

Master Hand replied "I'd prefer not to speak of it. However, know that you alone will not be able to defeat him. I must mention that I have faced him before. His power was too great, and he was beginning to take control. Me, Crazy, and Tabuu united against him, but even then we could only succeed in banishing him from this world to a different realm."

"Tabuu?" Meta Knight demanded.

"Yes, O hotheaded Star Warrior," the hand replied. "There is much in this world that you are not aware of. Tabuu has not always been evil."

"Yeah, whatever," growled Bowser. "What can we do to stop this guy?"

"Nothing, as I have told you before," replied Master Hand. "However, I may be able to draw on my power to reopen the portal and send you seven to save your friends. Meanwhile, I'll do all I can to help Ike. We can go from there."

Fox nodded. "Falco and I are in. If this guy is truly as powerful as you say, what choice do we have?"

Luigi stood to speak. When he first came to the tournament, he had been something of a coward, but he had grown in strength and courage since then. "I think," he said, "that I speak for all the rest of us when I say that we have to do this for the world."

The others, except for Bowser, cheered "For the World!" Master Hand did the hand equivalent of nodding.

"Very well," he said. "Meanwhile, I'll have Crazy take Ike to the Fire Emblem world to find a cleric."

Then the eight of them trooped out of the room, retracing the fateful footsteps of the other Smashers until they arrived at the wall where the portal had been. Master Hand cupped his hand over the wall and held it there. After several seconds he began to shake, but he pulled himself away, revealing the shimmering black and purple orb. Meta Knight led the others towards it, then turned towards them.

"We have to be brave," he said. "We will face great evils in this land beyond." Then he turned around and stepped forward into the portal. One by one, Fox, Zelda, Bowser, Lucario, Falco, and finally Luigi followed him, plunging into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**And here's Chapter 2! Enjoy!**

The Dark Maze. A vast, ever-changing expanse of twisting passageways and tunnels that contained the other Smashers somewhere inside. Impossibly large, with just enough light to see, finding anything in it would be a challenge, yet this is what the seven brave heroes who fell into it were tasked with doing.

Meta Knight was the first to fall out of the portal, but was soon followed by Fox, Zelda, Bowser, Lucario, Falco, and Luigi. As they stood up, each one gradually untangling themselves from everyone else, Bowser roared

"Look! The portal! It's disappearing!" Everyone immediately looked up, and sure enough, the portal began to fade and grow smaller before finally blinking out of existence.

"So…" Luigi began. "We're trapped in here until we find another way out."

"_If there is another way out," _added Lucario. Fox nodded grimly, and without another word, they set off into the maze. Zelda took the lead, illuminating their path with Din's fire, and Meta Knight brought up the rear, watching behind them for any potential threats. They had many questions about the maze: How big was it? What lay within its dark recesses? And most importantly, who was behind its creation? Before long however, they reached a fork in the path.

Zelda turned to the others. "Well?" she asked. "Which way should we go? Right or left?"

"Couldn't we split up? We'd cover a lot more ground that way," Falco volunteered.

"No, I think that it's too… too dangerous in here," Luigi said with a shudder. "We need to stick together."

"Luigi's right," said Meta Knight. He had obviously been in deep thought since they had entered the maze. "I can't quite place it, but something is wrong about this place. A great power looms over it, casting a dark shadow over it. We think we are in control of what is happening here, but somehow… every step we take in this maze is being controlled." As he finished saying this, Bowser suddenly yelled out in surprise as a blue shockwave blasted out of a point in the maze, snuffing out Zelda's light source.

_"We… Are not alone," _the words from Lucario drifted into their minds. "_A great monster approaches." _

"The shockwave came from the left!" Meta Knight yelled, taking command. "Go right! Now!" Everyone broke into a blind run, scrambling as fast as they could. After several minutes, Lucario gave a gasp of relief. "_We are safe now. Zelda, a light." _Zelda used her magic to conjure up Din's fire, and this time it worked. Fox breathed a sigh of relief. "What was that?" He demanded.

_"I do not know,"_ Lucario replied. _"I have never sensed the likes of it before."_ With that, they continued deeper into the maze in search of their friends.

xXx

No one can understand how time in the Dark Maze passes. Even the smashers slowly lost track. They could have wandered its vast recesses for minutes, hours, or days without knowing it. However, after some time, they heard a voice from behind them.

"Guys? Guys!?" The voice sounded choked and fearful. The seven spun around.

"Marth!" Luigi cried.

"Yeah," replied Marth. "Who are you? Are you more of those doppelgangers?" As he got closer, they saw that he had his sword drawn.

"No," replied Meta Knight. "We're the real deal: Myself, Fox, Falco, Luigi, Lucario, and Zelda are all here."

"You all found each other?" Marth asked in surprise.

"No," Zelda replied. "We, unlike the rest of you, were not drawn into this maze, instead, we came to find and save you guys."

"What's all this about doppelgangers, anyway?" demanded Bowser.

"Dark clones of us are haunting this accursed maze!" Marth warned them. "They are like us, but much more powerful, and they will stop at nothing to destroy us."

"_That is not what was pursuing us before," _Lucario stated before anyone could ask. _"It was a great beast, neither man nor clone of one."_

The Smashers now were a group of eight instead of seven, but now they were only a little stronger and knew only a little more about what awaited them beyond. Soon, however, they would learn. It would be something that they would wish they could unlearn.

xXx

Back at Smash Mansion, Master Hand called to Crazy Hand.

"Crazy! Come here!"

"WHAT IS IT BROTHER?" Crazy asked, yelling as usual.

"Ike is in grave danger," replied Master Hand. "I need you to take him to the Fire Emblem universe to find a cleric who can help him." Crazy nodded.

"OKAYS!" He replied. "OFF I GO!" Gathering Ike up with a surprising amount of care, especially considering his strange nature, he rushed off to the warp pads as fast as he could go. "I'LL SAVE IKE!" Master Hand smiled. His brother was strange, but he was brave, strong and well intentioned. Not so with the enemy which had returned against all of the Hand's expectations. But that was not what was concerning the hand now. Instead, he thought about the forceful gale that had ultimately saved Ike from being drawn into the maze. What could have caused it? What power resided in the maze? And was it for good or for evil? Currently, his hopes lay on the Smashers in the maze, but he doubted that they would succeed. The hand sighed. He supposed that there was little hope for the world. They would do what they could, but they would fail. And it was all because of that traitor Tabuu.

xXx

Nintendo of America offices- California, U.S.A.

"We have received word from our informants at Smash Mansion that the Smashers have been drawn into a great Dark Maze. What should we do?" At Reggie Fils-Aimé's words, the conference room broke out into chaos. Some thought that they needed to act immediately to help them, but others thought they should do nothing. At last, a man dressed in a black suit stood up, interrupting the discussion.

"Why do you argue about this? The smashers can handle it, and when they succeed, we will make a great profit off of their exploits." No one on the board much liked the speaker of these sentences, Luke Tryos, but they had to admit that he had a point. They could leave it to the Smashers. One member of the board, however, shook his head. They needed to do something about it-but he didn't do anything. Not yet. 


	3. Chapter 3

**I got a review! Yay! So here's the response:**

**Starryskys102: Hey thanks for reviewing! Also, thanks a bunch for pointing that out. That was very nearly bad.**

**Also, a lot of this chapter takes place in the Fire Emblem Universe, which I know next to nothing about, so I'm sorry if I get any details wrong.**

Crazy, carrying Ike, reached the teleporter and jumped in, landing squarely in the fields of Altea. He began running around furiously, shouting "CLERIC! CLERIC! CLERIC! WE NEEDS YOUR HELPS!" Then he paused. "OH WAITS, IS CAN JUST TELEPORTS TO THE NEAREST CLERIC!" He did so, appearing in a small but comfortable residence and shocking the girl he was trying to get to, a fairly inexperienced but also fairly skilled cleric in training named Katrinis. Katrinis screamed in surprise, and had good reason to seeing as a disembodied left hand clutching an unconscious warrior suddenly appearing in your house is not normal.

"Oh my gosh, who are you?" She demanded. "Are you one of those dark soldiers?"

"NO, I IS CRAZY HAND AND THIS IS IKE," the hand loudly proclaimed as he gently set the injured mercenary on the floor. "IKE IS HURT! CAN YOUS HELP HIM?"

"So this is the famous Ike?" Katrinis asked herself as she hurried over to where he was lying unconscious. Most of the Smashers were quite famous, due to the popularity of the Smash Tournament. She turned to Crazy. "How exactly did Ike get hurt?"

"WELLS…." Crazy began. "BRUTHER HAND SAID DON'T TRUST NO ONE, BUT I TELL YOU SO YOU CAN HELP IKE. A DARK MYSTERY PORTAL APPEARED AND IKE ALMOST GOTTED SUCKED INTO IT, BUT INSTEAD HE HIT A WALL!"

Katrinis nodded. "So perhaps he hurt his head, but I believe his problem is mainly Dark Hypnosis."

"WHAT THAT?" asked Crazy.

A shadow crossed Katrinis's face, and Crazy knew that something bad had happened to her recently. "These are dark times, Crazy. Perhaps a month ago I would not know what dark hypnosis was, but a shadow lies over our land. Darkness has invaded. Many of our warriors have been drawn into portals, some not returning, but others coming back as huge, dark, powerful monsters we know only as Berserkers. Still, a few escape from the portals but are stricken with this 'Dark Hypnosis' and left neither living nor dead, but caught up somewhere in the middle. Slowly we clerics have learned to help them. It is good that you came to us. I can save your friend, but…" Katrinis trailed off and her face turned ashen. Slowly, she raised her finger and pointed to the window behind Crazy. Slowly Crazy turned and looked. What he saw was a monster too horrible, too _evil _to describe. All that can be said about it was that it was huge, over 18 feet high, and was a grotesque imitation of a human. Nothing that man can imagine could ever come close to describing it. Slowly it lumbered toward the house where Crazy and Katrinis were hiding, and it tore off the roof with a casual swipe of its monstrous hand. Crazy Hand couldn't stand around any longer. Bursting out of the house where the roof had been, he grew to quadruple his normal size: Over 25 feet tall, and stood, facing down the berserker.

"GO AWAYS!" Crazy yelled, grabbing the beast. "AND DON'T COME BACKS!" He threw the Berserker and it flew several miles, landing with a thud in an empty field. "LET'S GO," Crazy said, returning to normal size. "TOWN NO SAFE ANYMORE." Katrinis nodded. Grabbing a cloak off the wall she wrapped it around herself and then grabbed her healing staff and a bow and arrows.

"NICE BOW," Crazy said. "CAN YOUS USE IT?" She nodded.

"It was my father's. When he… He died, he passed it on to me." With those solemn words, the two stepped out of the door of the ruined house, Crazy carrying Ike.

xXx

"With that matter out of the way," Reggie said, "we have a major problem. Altea is under the controls of great, dark beasts that are killing a great many people. I suspect that their presence is related in some way to the Dark Maze…"

"Why should we care?" Luke Tryos interrupted. "Altea is not Earth. We'll be fine."

David couldn't take it anymore standing up so quickly that he knocked his chair over, the tall young man stared down at Luke. "Enough!" He shouted. "People are dying! Why do you not care? Is money all that matters to you? Or do you perhaps have ulterior motives? We need to send help immediately." The board room erupted into chaos. Some people seemed to side with Luke, but more agreed with David. Finally, Reggie stood.

"That's enough," he said. "The meeting is dismissed."

xXx

"Crazy, what you did back there… it was amazing."

"THANKS KATRINIS BUT I _HAD_ TO PROTECT YOU AND IKE."

"Still, you saved us all," the cleric finished. The two came at last to an old stone fortress. "We're here," she noted. "It should be safe." The two gates hung open, rattling quietly in the wind. It was getting dark out, and it looked like rain. As Crazy and Katrinis stepped inside, Crazy closed the gates and magically bound them together: It would at least keep intruders out for a while. They walked through the courtyard and entered into the keep's musty interior. They had come in through the mess hall. Crazy carefully put Ike on one of the tables and relit the torches. The cast a warm glow over the chamber, and the two immediately felt better about being there.

"I'll take care of Ike," Katrinis said. "Why don't you go back and guard the gate, Crazy?"

"**Okays**," Crazy said, trying to be quiet but only getting his voice down to a few decibels below shouting. He walked out, leaving Katrinis alone with Ike. She bent over his unconscious form. The games made healing look easy, but in fact it was very challenging. Picking up her healing staff, she got to work just as it began to rain.

Almost two hours had passed when Crazy walked back in and said in a surprisingly quiet voice

"How is he?"

"I think he's fine," the girl replied. "He's sleeping now, but when he wakes up, he'll be a little weaker but mostly fine."

**"Okays," **said Crazy. His voice was beginning to get back to its normal volume. **"I also came in to say that a unit of soldiers has comed."**

"Thank goodness!" Katrinis said. "Maybe they can help us!" Leaving Ike, the two rushed out. When they reached, the gates, however, the leader of the unit stepped forward, unrolled a scroll, and loudly proclaimed

"Katrinis and Crazy Hand, you are under arrest by order of King Marth!"

xXx

David Kirth, a member of the Nintendo of America Board of Directors, was sitting in his high-rise penthouse suite watching a football game on TV. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. He sprung to his feet and hurried to the door, reaching it just as it gave way and fell off of its hinges. Five men, dressed in black from head to toe, and all carrying FN Minimi light machine guns, walked in.

"David Kirth, you are to come with us," said the leader.

David looked coolly at them. "Luke Tryos sent you, didn't he?" he asked, already knowing the answer. The assasins looked at each other nervously. _How did he know? _When they looked back, however, the tall man was holding two Smith & Wesson M&P40 15 shot pistols.

"No," he said. "I will _not_ come with you, and I would appreciate it if you would leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is one of my shortest chapters, yet it took the longest yet to write. Sorry for the delay! Also, thanks to my wonderful reviewers, Starryskys102 and GalaxyFangirl.**

Assassins are a useful commodity to anyone who is not particularly fond of a certain authority figure. Some people who employ assassins, however, don't necessarily dislike the person they are trying to have killed. They would simply prefer it if someone else were in power. That is why one night a group of mercenaries employed by a certain powerful man were responsible for the deaths of the first 6 people in the chain of succession for the U.S. president: The President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Treasury. This left the seventh man, the Secretary of Defense and a corrupt politician named Brian Johnstone, in power.

xXx

In the Dark Maze the current leader of the United States was none of the eight Smashers' concerns. They were the ones who wandered it with little set direction and but two clear purposes in mind: To find their friends who were also trapped within the maze's dark recesses and to find a way to leave the place for good. The group originally consisted of seven: Bowser, Meta Knight, Lucario, Zelda, Fox, Falco and Luigi, however, along the way they had picked up Marth. Now they walked the maze together. It is impossible to tell time inside the maze; the eight of them could have been inside for minutes- or for weeks. How long they had been there didn't really matter, though: All they were focused on was finding their friends and getting out of the place, and so they walked along, wary of danger, their path illuminated by the flickering flame of the Din's Fire that Zelda had summoned. It wasn't long after they had found Marth that a blue blur sped up to them.

"Hey guys!" said Sonic, strangely cheery despite their surroundings. "How's it going?"

Bowser didn't even turn his head as he replied "Awful." No one seemed to mind the hedgehog's presence or even his bizarre cheerfulness; No one, that is, except for Marth and Lucario. They were both on high alert. They knew that that wasn't Sonic.

"_Doppelganger," _said Lucario telepathically, and that was all anyone needed to hear to be set on high alert. Lucario hadn't directed his mental message at Sonic, but as he thought the words, a sickeningly sweet smile spread across his face.

"Yes," the hedgehog laughed. "I am." As he said this, his voice grew deeper. And he charged at Marth, his sheer speed knocking the prince off his feet. Zelda tried her best to hold him back with Farore's Wind, but the dark form of the blue blur charged right through it, slamming the girl into the wall. She slumped to the ground, nearly unconscious.

"**You're too slooow!**" Dark Sonic laughed mockingly. At that moment, Fox and Falco nodded to each other and dashed at him with Fox and Falco Illusions. For that one moment, the two of them were as fast as the hedgehog, and they slammed into him and knocked him off balance. He stumbled into the wall with a grunt. Meta Knight took the opportunity to throw his sword at Sonic's Doppelganger. It was a deadly hit square in the chest. There was a clang as Galaxia fell to the ground; the dark hedgehog had disintegrated upon the hit from the sword. After the Galaxia Knight had retrieved his blade, everyone gathered around the injured Zelda. She pushed them away.

"I'll be fine," she said, and it would take a good eye to spot the grimace on her face as she rose to her feet. "Let's go."

xXx

Crazy and Katrinis darted inside the castle. During their brief absence, Ike had awoken, and was now sitting on the table rubbing his head. When he saw Crazy, he implored,

"Crazy, what's going on? Where am I? Who's she? What was that… that thing?"

"I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!" Crazy shouted. "HELP US! THE ALTEAN ARMY IS AFTER US!"

"Okay… How'd you get them mad at you _again_?"

"Later, Ike." Katrinis said. "I'm Katrinis, a cleric. We'll explain everything in due time." Outside, they heard the banging of something, perhaps a battering ram, on the gate.

"TO THE ROOFS!" Crazy order, and the three hurried up the stairs, Ike lagging slightly behind.

xXx

The eight smashers in the maze were forced to move slower than they would have liked. Despite Zelda's persistent claims that she was unhurt, she was certainly moving a lot slower. Noticing ths, Meta Knight called a halt.

"Let's stop for a brief rest." They sat against the wall for a few minutes, but everyone knew time was of essence, so it wasn't long before they rose to carry on. As soon as they did, however, a blue shockwave shot through them, causing Din's Fire to flicker and die. A roar was heard. They started to run, but they didn't get far before Zelda stumbled and fell.

"Zelda!" Marth shouted, and then a huge monster seventeen feet high rounded a corner and charged at them.

"RUN!" screamed Luigi. Bowser grabbed Zelda and they dashed down the hall. Suddenly, just as they thought they were safe, a huge, gaping pit opened up in the floor in front of them. Luigi was unable to slow himself down in time, and he skidded over the edge, turning just in time to grab the edge with his stronger right hand. Fox reached down to help him back up, but before Luigi could grab it the berserker came into view, moving slowly, its eyes gleaming in anticipation. A dark, oily voice floated over the Smashers, speaking ominous words of death.

** "Rest in peace."**

**Cliffhanger! The next chapter shouldn't take too long to upload. Thanks for all the support.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm a terrible person, guys. I told you that I would update faster this time, and I didn't. Wow. Procrastination FTW! At least my basketball stuff is done now, so I'll try to update at least once or twice a week. Anyways, thanks to GlimmerK, Angel, and .1379 for reviewing. So let's get straight into it.**

The assassins looked at each other nervously. From the looks of this man who they had thought would be a weak, slow office worker type, he was very experienced and skilled. Suddenly, something in the mind of the leader clicked. He turned to his men. "Throw down your weapons. I know this man." Slowly the five men placed their guns on the ground. David lowered his pistol and motioned with his left hand towards the couches.

"Have a seat." Soon they were all sitting down, with David in a chair across from the other five who were sitting on two couches, eyeing him cautiously. The leader was the first to speak.

"You're David Cooper, aren't you?"

David folded his arms. "That depends on who's asking." At the mention of the name David Cooper, three of the other four assassins were startled. Could it be? These reaction were enough for David to pick up on. He now knew who he was dealing with.

xXx

The eight Smashers stared, petrified, at the Berserker as it lumbered slowly towards them, a wicked gleam in its eyes. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, there was a rushing of wind that slowly grew in force. At first, the Berserker kept walking through it, but as the wind picked up, it began to slide backward. Fox used the opportunity to haul Luigi up to the top, then turned toward the Berserker, drawing his blaster. The wind had subsided, but whatever had caused it had done enough. The eight faced down the approaching monster. Bowser was the first to attack, withdrawing into his shell and spinning towards the Berserker. He hit with brutal force, and yet the Berserker seemed barley affected, and now Bowser was within easy reach. Swiftly, Meta Knight teleported over, seized the Koopa King, and then teleported back to the group.

"His flesh," Bowser groaned. "It's like steel."

"Steel is no match for our lasers," Falco murmured, and he and Fox opened fire. While their blasters seemed to cause some damage, the beast wasn't even slowed. They had nowhere to run. Lucario was the first to be hit, and he went flying across the room. Dragging himself up, he checked himself for injury. Five nasty gashes had been drawn across his chest. He took advantage of the wound and unleashed his most powerful attack: an aura sphere. The Berserker was blasted off of his feet. When he got up, he was shimmering purple. He advanced, but with every step, he grew smaller. At last, he was only six feet tall. As his height changed, so did his appearance. At last, he had returned to normal. He was apparently an Altean solider. No sooner had he fully regained his normal form then he passed out on the ground.

"What… what happened?" Marth stammered.

"_Somehow," _Lucario said, "_my fully powered up Aura Sphere had such a powerful effect on the beast that he passed returned to his normal form. It also seems that once these monsters were people." _ Bowser nodded, then picked up the soldier and carried him and Zelda. They soon saw a tower in the distance, stretching up into the swirling darkness above them.

"Let's head for that tower," suggested Luigi. "We might find something there."

xXx

Crazy, Katrinis and Ike stared dismally as the solider cut down a tree and then used it to attack the gate. The clanging of rusted old metal drifted up to their ears, but the soldiers themselves were invisible in the night except for a few bright patches: They were torches that a few of the warriors carried. However, the torches soon sizzled and died. The rainstorm had begun. At last, the rusted metal of the ancient gate gave way and the soldiers rushed into the courtyard, bursting into the dining hall. As they did, Katrinis fired arrow after arrow into their ranks and Crazy fired with his finger gun. This helped a little, but only a little, and soon the soldiers were charging up the stairs. Ike was waiting for them. He was still a little weaker than he would have liked, but his sword still sliced through the approaching army like a hot knife through butter. He could have defended the staircase forever had his strength been what it used to be, but eventually his weakened state forced him to stumble back up the stairs. He drew his extra sword and tossed it to Katrinis.

"You'll need it," he said, and then the army was upon them. Crazy was a viciously powerful fighter, the force of his blows sending his opponents flying off the roof, and Ike was easily holding his own despite his weakened condition. Katrinis, however, was in trouble. She wasn't nearly skilled enough to keep back the throng of soldiers that pressed in around her. At last, one of the soldiers knocked the sword from her hand and grabbed her.

"Hand!" He shouted. "If you and your friend don't surrender, I'll kill the girl!"

xXx

The smashers approached the tower with a growing sense of dread. As they got closer, it seemed ever larger and more threatening. Finally, when they got close enough to it, they saw that a clearing was all around it with paths leading to it from all sides. They were not the first ones there. Five other smashers: Link, Mario, The Pokemon Trainer, Snake, and Samus were all sitting in the courtyard, if you could call it that. As the eight approached, the five rose and prepared for a fight.

"Who are you?" Demanded Snake. As he said this, Lucario was searching their minds.

_"We're fine. They're not doppelgangers." _Marth breathed a sigh of relief. Mario, who seemed to be the leader of the other group, felt no such relief.

"How can I trust you? Most of us would be dead right now if we trusted every group of Smashers who came in here."

xXx

"Luke Tryos did indeed send us. He told us you were asking too many of the wrong sort of questions and needed to be eliminated."

"I know the feeling all too well, brother," David replied. "Since I left the field I have found that a great many people have wanted me gone. That is why the name change was necessary."

"After just one meeting with that man, I wanted badly to change my own name. Sharing it with that sinister man…" The speaker gave a small shudder. His name was Luke Cooper, and he was David's brother. Once, a long time ago, David had led the assassin unit that Luke was now in charge of. The six of them had decided to work together one last time to bring down the evil man that was Luke Tryos. They would need a lot more help than they had with them at the time, but they had to succeed. For the world.


End file.
